Wouldn’t it be nice to know if the two are enthusiastically discussing the latest sports event or if this heated conversation is a
sign of escalating aggression? Without audio, your best guess is
based on watching a silent movie.

The ability to hear can make a world of difference to your
security response. There’s a distinct advantage when you can
use live audio to detect suspicious activity, validate threats and
neutralize an unfolding situation. Learn about three options
that will put eyes in the sky and ears on the ground: cameras
with microphones, video intercoms and audio analytics.

An Audible Benefit

The human ear has an amazing capacity to sense danger,
assessing tone, pitch, words and distinct sounds to instantly
assess their threat level. Audio surveillance enables security
operators to use two of their five senses rather than just one for
an instantaneous increase in situational awareness. They don’t
have to be present in an area to hear suspicious activity any
more than they have to be in the same location to see it.

“Audio surveillance augments the human capacity for secu-rity,” says Richard Brent, CEO of Louroe Electronics. “You candetect and respond to a situation more quickly. Live sound helpsyou take action and prevent rather than react to threats.”From a budget standpoint, adding audio is minimal. Newercameras may already have built-in microphones that are simpleto activate with a click of a mouse. Even your legacy camerasare likely to have an audio jack that connects to a microphonecable. If you want to automate sound detection, there are also

AUDIO CAN DRASTICALLY IMPROVE SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

SYNC

+SOUNDSURVEILLANCE

Two individuals
are standing in
your parking
garage. The
video feed
shows erratic
body language
and an animated
verbal exchange.